Google me this: How tight can NASA and Google get? High-profile bosom buddies since at least 2005, the pair this week announced ambitious plans to build 1.2 million square feet worth of office on 42.2 acres of land at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

Google has signed a potential 90-year agreement starting at $3.66 million per year and will construct R&D facilities "in a campus-style setting." Naturally, the Googlers are already having fun promoting and publicizing the future R&D center. You can check out overviews of the area in Google Maps and Google Earth formats at the main 'site.

Construction will proceed in three phases. The first phase is planned to begin by the end of September 2013, the second phase by 2018, and the third by 2022.

"This long-term lease agreement is a key component of Google's strategy for continued growth in Silicon Valley," said Google vice president of real estate and workplace services David Radcliffe. "We believe this collaboration between Google, NASA and the city of Mountain View is emblematic of the mutually beneficial partnerships that can be created between the public and private sectors." Hear, hear: Always good to be on the right side of the ol' military-industrial complex, eh?

Google's been on the right, i.e. greener, side of the governmental equation for some time in fact. Back in 2006, NASA and Google publicly announced the Space Act Agreement, a collaboration on projects involving availability of NASA data online, real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars, and real-time tracking of the International Space Station.

And this week's lease signing has roots growing back to September 2005, when the entities signed a memorandum of understanding which began with seriously dangerous time-killer Google Moon and would ultimately result in the Ames interaction.